Phillies Move Jerad Eickhoff To Bullpen

The Phillies have moved right-hander Jerad Eickhoff from the starting rotation to the bullpen, manager Gabe Kapler told reporters Tuesday (Twitter link via Matt Breen of Philly.com). The Phils have not yet determined who’ll start in his place, but Kapler ruled out top prospect Adonis Medina as an option, Breen notes.

Eickhoff, 28, made an impressive return to the Phillies’ rotation earlier this year after some prolonged injury troubles, pitching to a 1.50 ERA through his first five games of the season. Since that time, he’s been tagged for 27 runs in 27 1/3 innings while yielding a sky-high 16 home runs (five in his most recent outing). Injuries limited Eickhoff to just 5 1/3 innings in 2018 and a total of 133 1/3 innings from 2017-18, but he did give the Phillies 197 innings of 3.65 ERA ball back in 2016. If Eickhoff’s struggles continue in relief, he does have minor league options remaining.

It’s been a rough year for Phillies starters, as Nick Pivetta has been inconsistent while neither Aaron Nolanor Jake Arrieta has pitched to expectations. Nola and Arrieta, in particular, have seen their struggles coincide with those of Eickhoff. The Phillies still have a 15-13 record over the past month despite their ineffective rotation, but the Braves have substantially closed the gap in what is now a tied division by playing at a 17-9 pace over that same stretch. Philadelphia is widely expected to be aggressive on the trade market this winter, and the rotation looks to be an increasingly logical target area for general manager Matt Klentak and his staff.

Phillies are very loyal to him, but honestly, I have not seen much of the good stuff that they see. 0-7 start to the 2017 season; spent much of 2018 on the then-DL/IL (now), I agree with Brian that there is no deep post-season (if we even get there) with this rotation. Arrieta is not Arrieta, Nola is having a good, but not great year, etc. But even so, Nola is not Nola. Something has to give as the Braves are too good to not make trades.

you gotta look at the whole picture going back to 2015-16.. 2..65 ERA over 8 starts in 2015, and 3.65 ERA over 33 starts in 2016. the injury issues that held him out of 2018 were nagging him in 2017. he came back as a completely reinvented pitcher in 2019, and his offerings were so different that hitters didn’t know what do (first five starts) until they adjusted (last several starts). he has the ceiling of a mid-rotation piece but something is clearly not working right now.